Flexural Performance of HSC beams containing natural fibers

This research study investigates the structural performance of high-strength concrete (HSC) reinforced rectangular beam under flexure with the impact of banana fiber, coir fiber and alccofine for M70 grade concrete. In this research, natural banana fiber and coir fiber were employed for strengthening HSC at 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, and 2% by volume, while the cement was partially substituted with a 15% alccofine content in weight. Nine rectangular reinforced concrete beams were fabricated and tested under flexure to assess the structural performance, including load-carrying capacity, load–deflection relationship, ductility index, load-strain relationship, failure mode, and crack patterns. The reinforcement was designed considering the under-reinforced section. The test results revealed that the inclusion of banana and coir fiber in high-strength concrete significantly enhances the ultimate load-carrying capacity of RC beam by 42.86% and 35.71%, respectively, attributed to synergistic action between fiber and aggregate interlink system of concrete.